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6 Fun Facts About Bull Sharks

Get ready to meet the mighty bull shark! Although the great white shark might be the most well-known, the bull shark is just as fascinating and even more powerful. Here are six fun and fascinating facts about bull sharks that will make you appreciate them even more!

Bull sharks have a mighty bite.

First off, bull sharks have a bite that will blow your mind! With a force of 5,914 Newtons, their bite is stronger than even that of the great white shark. That’s one mighty chomp!

Bull sharks are masters of adaptation.

Bull sharks are able to live in both freshwater and saltwater thanks to their incredible ability to adjust the salt-to-water ratio in their bodies. This means they can swim into freshwater habitats and even establish long-term residency there.

A bull shark’s home depends on their age.

Newborn and juvenile bull sharks prefer freshwater habitats. As they grow older, they opt for saltwater habitats but still swim into freshwater areas. In old age, they stick strictly to saltwater.

Bull sharks are true world travelers.

They’ve been caught as far as 1,750 miles upriver from New Orleans and seen up to 2,200 miles upstream in the Amazon River. They can even establish populations in freshwater habitats, including rivers in the U.S., Australia, and India. Talk about wanderlust!

Bull sharks give birth to live young.

Unlike most sharks, they don’t lay eggs. Instead, after an 11-month gestation period, a mother bull shark can give birth to a litter of up to 13 pups. Imagine being born in the open ocean – talk about a wild start to life!

They go by many aliases.

Bull sharks have at least 15 different names, including the Ganges shark, shovelnose shark, and river shark. No matter what you call them, though, they’re definitely one of the coolest creatures in the water.

Bull sharks may seem scary, but they’re also incredibly interesting and deserve our respect. So next time you’re swimming in warm waters, keep your eyes peeled for the mighty bull shark – you never know where they might show up next!

Photo Credit: Diego Delso

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